Appliance, motor or stator

ABSTRACT

A motor suited for use in a direct drive laundry machine. The described motor has 27 poles projecting outward from an annular ring. Each pole is associated with one of three phase windings. A rotor for the motor has 36 inwardly facing permanent magnet poles.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a partof the present disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electric motors and magnet elements foruse in such motors, and particularly motors having an external rotor ofa type that are used as the main drive motor for a domestic laundrymachine or other apparatus.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to motors for particular use in laundrymachines. The motors are of a type including an internal stator withradially extending stator poles and an external rotor with inwardlyfacing rotor poles. In motors having a 4:3 ratio of rotor poles tostator poles, for use with direct drive laundry washing machines, morethan 30 stator poles has been typical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a stator, a motorincluding the stator, or a laundry machine including the motor, whichimprove on the prior art, or which will at least provide the public orindustry with a useful choice.

In one aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in astator comprising a core of magnetically permeable material including anannular ring with an inner circumference between 120 mm diameter and 250mm diameter and a width between 5 mm and 15 mm, 24 or 27 radiatingextending poles spaced around the circumference of the annular ring, thepoles extending outward from the annular ring a distance between 15 mmand 40 mm, three phase windings, each winding comprising a plurality ofcoils arranged on one third of the pole cores, the windings arranged onthe pole cores such that each pole core is associated with only onewinding, which is different from the winding associated with each of thetwo immediately adjacent pole cores and the two immediately adjacentpole cores are associated with different windings, an insulatorinsulating the pole cores from the windings.

According to a further aspect, the core has a depth between 10 mm and 35mm.

According to a further aspect, the annular ring is at least largelyencapsulated by an insulator.

According to a further aspect, the insulator over the pole cores andannular ring is an over moulded plastic material.

According to a further aspect, the diameter of the inner circumferenceof the annular ring is between 150 mm and 230 mm.

According to a further aspect, the diameter of the inner circumferenceof the annular ring is between 200 mm and 220 mm.

According to a further aspect, the width of the annular ring is between5 mm and 10 mm.

According to a further aspect, the width of the annular ring is between7 mm and 10 mm.

According to a further aspect, the depth or thickness of the annularring is between 12 mm and 15 mm.

According to a further aspect, the depth or thickness of the annularring is between 17 mm and 23 mm.

According to a further aspect, the core comprises at least one stack oflaminations, each lamination lying in a plane substantially parallel tothe plane of the annular ring.

According to a further aspect, the stack or stacks of laminationscomprise a stack formed from a helical coil of steel strip such thateach layer in the stack comprises a turn in the helix.

According to a further aspect, the steel strip includes a band formingthe annular ring and extended portions forming the pole cores.

According to a further aspect, the stack or stacks of laminationscomprises multiple stacks joined at their ends, each stack including asegment of the annular ring and one or more extending pole cores.

According to a further aspect, each segment of the annular ring joinswith adjacent segments of the annular ring by interlocking shapes at theabutting ends (such as a dove tail joint).

According to a further aspect, each segment includes a plurality ofradially extending pole cores.

According to a further aspect, the stator includes 27 radially extendingpole cores and the core comprises 6 stacks, 3 stacks having 5 radiallyextending pole cores each and 3 stacks having 4 radially extending polecores each.

According to a further aspect, the stator has only 27 radially extendingpole cores.

According to a further aspect, the stator includes a plurality offastening locations for mounting the stator to a machine, each fasteninglocation being centred a distance radially inside the inner surface ofthe annular ring of the core, this distance being greater than thelength that the pole cores extend beyond the outer surface of theannular ring.

According to a further aspect, fastening locations for fastening thestator to the machine have centres more than 40 mm from the centre ofthe stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 40 mmand 80 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 50 mmand 75 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 60 mmand 70 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the stator includes a diaphragm portionextending inward from the annular ring to occupy an area within theperimeter of the ring and that includes the fastening locations.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations compriseapertures through the diaphragm portion.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm portion is annular andoccupies an area between the annular ring and a circular aperture spacedinward of the mounting locations.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm includes at least onesubstantially frustoconical surface in a region between the mountinglocations and the annular ring.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm includes at least twosubstantially frustoconical portions between the mounting locations andthe annular ring, the frustoconical portions joining to form a circularridge (when viewed from one side of the stator) and valley (when viewedfrom the other side of the stator).

According to a further aspect, the height of the ridge or valley is lessthan the height of the annular ring.

In a further aspect, the present invention may broadly be said toconsist in a stator comprising a core of magnetically permeable materialincluding an annular ring with an inner circumference between 120 mmdiameter and 250 mm diameter and a width between 5 mm and 15 mm, aplurality of radiating extending poles spaced around the circumferenceof the annular ring, the poles extending outward from the annular ringbetween 15 mm and 40 mm, 3 phase windings, each winding comprising aplurality of coils arranged on 1/3 of the pole cores, an insulatorinsulating the pole cores from the windings, a plurality of mountingpoints for mounting the stator to a machine, each mounting point beingcentred a distance radially inside the inner surface of the annular ringof the core, this distance being greater than the length that the polecores extend beyond the outer surface of the annular ring, and more than40 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, fastening locations for fastening thestator to the machine have centres more than 40 mm from the centre ofthe stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 40 mmand 80 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 50 mmand 75 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations are between 60 mmand 70 mm from the centre of the stator.

According to a further aspect, the stator includes a diaphragm portionextending inward from the annular ring to occupy an area within theperimeter of the ring and that includes the fastening locations.

According to a further aspect, the fastening locations compriseapertures through the diaphragm portion.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm portion is annular andoccupies an area between the annular ring and a circular aperture spacedinward of the mounting locations.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm includes at least onesubstantially frustoconical surface in a region between the mountinglocations and the annular ring.

According to a further aspect, the diaphragm includes at least twosubstantially frustoconical portions between the mounting locations andthe annular ring, the frustoconical portions joining to form a circularridge (when viewed from one side of the stator) and valley (when viewedfrom the other side of the stator).

According to a further aspect, the height of the ridge or valley is lessthan the height of the annular ring.

In a further aspect, the present invention may broadly be said toconsist in a motor for use in a washing machine, said motor comprising astator as described above, a rotor concentric with said stator with apermanent magnet ring outside said stator and rotor poles facing theends of said stator poles.

According to a further aspect, the rotor comprises a plurality of magnetelements with two lateral edges each with magnetic domains alignedanisotropically to form a domain alignment pattern, the plurality ofmagnets being arranged to form a permanent magnet ring with an innerface and an outer face, a rigid support holding said magnet elements insaid ring arrangement, wherein the magnetic domain alignment pattern ineach magnet element has an orientation that varies substantiallycontinuously across at least part of the magnet element between itslateral edges from an orientation that has a predominant radialcomponent at a pole of the magnet element to an orientation that has aleast some tangential component at one lateral edge of the magnetelement, wherein the magnet elements are magnetised to produce aresulting magnetic flux field.

According to a further aspect, one or more of the magnet elements have achamfer at the intersection of each lateral edge with the front edge,wherein the front edge is the edge at the inner face of the rotor.

According to a further aspect, at both lateral edges the orientation ofthe magnetic domain alignment pattern has significant tangentialcomponent which result in the magnetic domain alignment pattern havingan orientation of at least 15 degrees with respect to the lateral edges.

According to a further aspect, the orientation varies substantiallynon-linearly over the magnet element.

According to a further aspect, the resulting magnetic flux field haspoles with alternating polarity spaced around the ring, the poles beingaligned radially with respect to the permanent magnet ring, and whereinthe resulting magnetic flux field of the permanent magnet ring traversesbetween adjacent poles of opposite polarities and between those poles isfocused to extend beyond the boundary defined by the inner face, butremain at least partially constrained within the boundary defined by theouter face of the permanent magnet ring,

According to a further aspect, the portion of the resulting magneticflux field between adjacent poles extending beyond the boundary definedby the inner face of the permanent magnet ring magnet element has anorientation that varies continuously wherein between the poles, theorientation varies from an orientation that has a predominant radialcomponent at the pole to an orientation that has a predominanttangential component at the mid-point between the poles, and extendingradially from the inner face, the orientation varies from an orientationthat has a predominant radial component at an inner face to anorientation that has an increasingly tangential component with distancefrom the inner face.

In a further aspect, the present invention may broadly be said toconsist in a washing machine including an electronically commutatedmotor as described above, said stator being coupled to a non-rotatingtub or housing of the washing machine, said rotor being coupled to arotating drum of the washing machine.

According to a further aspect, washing machine is a top loading washingmachine comprising: an outer wrapper, a tub suspended in the outerwrapper, and a rotating drum in the tub.

According to a further aspect, the washing machine is a horizontal axismachine comprising: an outer wrapper, a rotating drum housing, and arotating drum in the housing.

According to a further aspect, the washing machine is a horizontal axismachine with top loading access comprising: an outer wrapper, a tub, anda rotating drum in the tub.

In this specification where reference has been made to patentspecifications, other external documents, or other sources ofinformation, this is generally for the purpose of providing a contextfor discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically statedotherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construedas an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, inany jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common generalknowledge in the art.

The term “comprising” as used in this specification means “consisting atleast in part of”. Related terms such as “comprise” and “comprised” areto be interpreted in the same manner.

It is intended that reference to a range of numbers disclosed herein(for example, 1 to 10) also incorporates reference to all rationalnumbers within that range (for example, 1, 1.1, 2, 3, 3.9, 4, 5, 6, 6.5,7, 8, 9 and 10) and also any range of rational numbers within that range(for example, 2 to 8, 1.5 to 5.5 and 3.1 to 4.7).

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changesin construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of theinvention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and thedescriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to bein any sense limiting

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stator according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view from below of the stator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the stator of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross section through line BB of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross section through line CC of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a laminated core suitable for the stator ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an alternative laminated stator core suitablefor the stator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view from one side of the rotor suitable (foradaptation to the number of rotor poles) for use with the stator of FIG.1.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the rotor of FIG. 8 from the other side.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another rotor suitable (with adaptationof the number of rotor poles) for use with the stator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another rotor suitable (With adaptationof the number of rotor poles) for use with the stator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 shows a diagrammatic cutaway view of a washing machine of avertical axis type that may incorporate a stator and/or motor accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic view of a horizontal axis washing machinewith front access that may incorporate the stator and/or motor accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows a diagrammatic view of a horizontal axis washing machinewith top or tilt access that may incorporate the stator and/or motoraccording to the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a diagrammatic view of a horizontal axis laundry machinewith tilt access that may incorporate the stator and/or motor accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a prior art stator.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a prior art rotor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A stator according to one embodiment of the present invention isillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5.

The stator 100 has 27 poles 102. The stator generally includes anannular ring portion 104, a mounting portion 106 inside the ringportion, and a plurality of poles 102 extending radially from theoutside surface of the annular ring portion 104.

In construction, the stator generally comprises a magnetically permeablecore 108, an insulator structure surrounding the core, or surroundingmost of the core, and conductive windings arranged on the poles 102.

In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating structure comprises alayer of plastic over moulded over the magnetically permeable core. Theover moulded plastic covers at least those parts of the core whichsupport and locate the conductive windings. In the illustratedembodiment, the plastic covers all of the radially extending pole coresexcept the outer end surfaces 118. In an alternative embodiment, theinsulating plastic may also cover the end surfaces of the pole cores.

Holes or partial holes 110 may extend through the plastic at the annularring portion of the stator. These may result from pins or other locatingdevices used to hold the stator core in place during the mouldingprocess.

The magnetically permeable core 108 may be formed of any suitablematerial, including for example a sintered ferritic powder, but mostpreferably is formed from steel laminations. In general form,laminations of the laminated steel lie in planes substantially parallelto the plane of the annular ring of the stator. The plan view of FIG. 4illustrates the outline shapes of the laminations while the crosssection of FIG. 5 illustrates edges of the laminations.

The lamination steel may be, for example, a fully processed non-orientedgrain lamination steel with a nominal loss of about 7 w/kg.

The plastic material over moulding the core may be any suitable plastic.For example, one suitable material is a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)sold as “CRASTIN” by Dupont Corporation.

The stator mounting portion 106 includes mounting locations generallydesignated 112. In the illustrated embodiment, each fastening location112 includes a fastening hole 114. The fastening holes 114 may beslotted or otherwise larger than the outside diameter of the fastenerintended to pass through the fastening holes. This allows formanufacturing tolerance in the machine to which the stator will besecured.

The mounting portion 106 may include a locating portion 116 in additionto the fastening locations 112. The locating portion 116 may provide foraligning the stator concentrically with a shaft of the motor. Forexample, the locating portion 116 may comprise a circular opening 120 atthe centre of the stator. A lip or rim 122 of the opening 120 may locateon a corresponding feature or features of a bearing housing or bearingsupporting the drive shaft.

The fastening locations 112 (with fastening holes 114) are located inthe mounting portion 106 between the opening 120 and the annular ringportion 104. In the illustrated embodiment, these fastening locationsand fastening holes are centred more than 40 mm from the centre of thestator. In some embodiments, they may be more than 45 mm from the centreof the stator, more than 50 mm from the centre of the stator, more than55 mm from the centre of the stator, more than 60 mm from the centre ofthe stator and preferably more than 65 mm from the centre of the stator,or about 68 mm from the centre of the stator.

The mounting locations and fastening holes 114 are centred a distancefrom the inside surface of the annular ring portion 111 of the core 108that is greater than the distance that the radially extending poleportions 109 of the core 108 extend beyond the outer surface of theannular ring portion of the core 108. For example, in one embodiment,the fastening holes may be centred more than 30 mm from the insidesurface of the annular ring portion of the core 108, more than 32 mm,more than 34 mm and preferably more than 35 mm from the inside surfaceof the stator core annular ring portion. Whereas the pole portions mayextend less than 30 mm from the outside surface of the annular ringportion of the core 108, and most preferably less than 27 mm. In otherembodiments, the pole portions may extend more than 30 mm from theoutside surface of the annular ring, for example up to 40 mm, in whichcase the fastening holes may be more than 40 mm from the inside surfaceof the annular ring. The pole portions may extend much less than 30 mmfrom the outer surface over the annular ring, for example, only 15 mm.

In plan view, each pole portion is T-shaped, with a cross bar portion ofeach pole portion supported spaced apart from the annular ring portionof the stator by a trunk portion of each pole portion.

The mounting portion 106 of the stator may be formed entirely fromplastic. The mounting portion 106 may be formed in one operation withover moulding of the core 108.

The mounting portion may include one or more frustoconical portionsconcentric with the annular ring portion of the stator. The illustratedstator includes an inner frustoconical portion 124 and an outerfrustoconical portion 126. Together, the frustoconical portions 124 and126 form a circular ridge 128 (when viewed from one side of the statoras in FIG. 1) and circular valley 130 (when viewed from the other sideof the stator as in FIG. 2).

The overall diameter 132 of the stator may be about 280 mm. In otherembodiments, the diameter may be between 320 and 270, between 290 and270 or between 290 and 240.

The width 134 of the annular ring portion of the stator core may beabout 9 mm. In other embodiments, the width of the annular ring portionof the stator core may be between 5 mm and 15 mm.

The diameter 131 of the inner surface of the stator core 108 may beabout 208 mm. In other embodiments, the diameter may be between 230 mmand 190 mm or between 250 mm and 120 mm.

The radial distance 133 of the fastening locations from the centre ofthe stator may be about 68 mm. In other embodiments, the radial distancemay be between 40 mm and 80 mm.

The thickness of the plastic insulator in the region of the radiallyprojecting pole cores may be about 1.5 mm. The thickness of the mountingportion 106 may be about 4 mm in the vicinity of the mounting locations112 and about 3 mm adjacent the annular portion 104 of the stator. Thethickness of the mounting portion 106 may be about 2 mm in the region ofthe frustoconical portions 124 and 126.

Preferably, the motor is wound such that each projecting pole includes adiscreet conductor coil, with each pole being associated with one ofthree phase windings of the motor. Each phase winding is thereforeassociated with ⅓ of the poles of the stator.

The coils of each pole associated with a particular phase winding areconnected in series. The coils of a phase winding may be wound from asingle continuous conductor, the conductor forming a coil of eachrespective pole in series.

In the Figures, the coils of the windings are illustrated as amorphousblocks of material. This is to simplify the illustration. In practice,each illustrated block is a coil of conductor. Additional portions ofconductor (not illustrated) interconnect the coils for a particularphase winding. These portions of conductor interconnecting the coils arelocated in the vicinity of the annular ring portion 104. A framework 125of guideposts 127 and supporting surfaces 129 assist the arrangement ofthe interconnecting portions of conductor. According to thisarrangement, first ends of the conductor of each phase winding terminatetogether at a connector 117. Second ends of the conductor of each phasewinding terminate together at connectors 119. In different electricalconfigurations for the motor, it may be preferable for pairs of ends toterminate together. In one electrical arrangement for the motor, thephase windings are connected in a star configuration. In thisconfiguration, an end of each of the three windings is connectedtogether at a common connector 117.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, alternative cores according to differentmethods of manufacturing a lamination stack are illustrated. In thearrangement illustrated in FIG. 6, the stator core comprises alamination formed from a helically, edgewise wound strip. The stripincludes a band portion 602 and radially extending pole portions 604 atregular intervals. As the strip is wound edgewise, the pole portionssplay apart slightly. And the turns of strip stack up to form thelaminated stator core. The helical stack of turns may be secured by aplurality of rivets 608 or alternatively by interlocking punch downportions (not illustrated) where a tab of each layer of strip is punchedinto a recess in the layer below, the recess being formed by punchingdown the tab in that layer. One end 606 of the helically wound stripsits on the top of the stack. The other end of the helically wound stripsits on the bottom of the stack.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the core is formedfrom multiple stacks of laminations. Each stack of laminations includesa segment 702 or 704 of the annular ring portion of the stator core anda plurality of radially extending pole core portions 706.

For a stator with 27 poles, the core preferably comprises 3 laminationstacks having 5 pole cores each, and 3 lamination stacks having 4 polecores each. The 5-pole stacks 710 and the 4-pole stacks 708 may beassembled to form the stator core, with stacks 708 and 710 alternatingaround the stator core. The individual lamination stacks may be joinedin any suitable fashion. For example the stacks may be butt-welded, orthey may be simply restrained in place and held together abutting oneanother by the moulded plastic insulating layer. However, preferably,they are joined by interconnecting shapes at the butting ends of theannular ring portion 702, 704. For example, the interlocking shapes mayform a dove-tail connection.

The laminations within each stack may be riveted, or otherwise securedtogether. For example they may be secured by an adhesive, or in sometemporary fashion until the plastic over moulding, or they may beinterlocked by appropriate punched connections between layers of thelamination.

The height of the lamination stack may vary depending on the torquerequirement of the motor. For example, the height of the laminationstack may be between 10 mm and 35 mm depending on the output requirementfor the motor.

Each lamination of the lamination stack may be about 0.5 mm thickness.For example, a lamination stack of 27 layers would have a stator corethickness of 13.5 mm. A stack of 38 layers would have a stator corethickness of 19 mm.

The inventors have found that the described stator, intended for use inapplication in a laundry machine, provides lower noise than conventionalstators such as are illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 and (labelled “priorart”), with rotation speeds up to 1600 rpm.

The described stator is for use with an external rotor having a ring ofmagnets facing inward toward the outer surfaces of the pole ends of thestator. For example, rotors are illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 11. In use,the stator is secure on the machine, with a shaft of the machine passingthrough the inner aperture 120 of the stator mounting portion. The rotoris secured to the shaft.

The stator is intended for a motor with a 4:3 rotor pole to stator poleratio. Accordingly, the rotor for use with a 27 pole stator asillustrated should have 36 poles. As an alternative, the inventorsbelieve a stator with 24 poles may achieve some of the benefits of thedescribed stator. The corresponding rotor would have 32 poles.

Referring to FIGS. 8 to 11, the rotor 36 comprises a number of, hardferrite or neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet elements 37, arrangedto form a permanent magnet ring 38 of such elements. The permanentmagnet elements 37 could also be comprised of a blend of hard ferriteand neodymium-iron-boron material or other magnetic material such as,but not limited to, Samarium-cobalt. Alternatively the permanent magnetelements 37 could comprise a blend of these magnet materials and plasticmaterial. The ring 38 of magnetic material can be supported by a rigidrotor support or housing 39. This may comprise an over moulded plasticsannular ring, with a plastics hub. Alternatively, the housing couldcomprise pressed steel 39 a (as in the rotor of FIG. 10) with the magnetelements attached therein. A single or multiple piece or multiple layerlaminated backing ring 40 (see FIG. 8) could optionally be provided toincrease the resulting magnetic flux field produced by the magneticmaterial. Preferably, the ring of permanent magnetic material 38 has aninternal diameter just larger than the outside diameter of the stator.The combination achieves an air gap of between 2.5 mm and 0.5 mm. Eachsection (and the ring) is preferably less than 20 mm thick. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that there are many possiblevariations on the construction of a rotor 36 for use in a washingmachine motor.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show just one possibility in a general form for exemplarypurposes. FIGS. 10 and 11 show an alternative possible rotor.

Further details of possible rotor constructions are described in ourU.S. Pat. No. 5,040,285, our PCT international publication WO2009/017430and in our pending US patent application U.S. 61/358,746. The wholecontent of each application is hereby incorporated by reference. Thepreferred motor has a magnet to stator pole ratio of 4:3. The number ofrotor magnets shown FIGS. 10 and 11 are illustrative only to demonstratethe physical nature of the rotor/stator. The actual number of magnetsmight be different. As described in our WO2009/017430, the rotor 36 maybe magnetised to produce a Halbach-style resulting magnetic flux fieldthe same or similar to that produced by a standard Halbach array.

As described in WO2009/017430, each permanent magnet element 37 in therotor may be produced in a manner such that it comprises magneticdomains pre-aligned into a magnetic domain alignment pattern. The term“magnetic domain alignment pattern” refers to the orientation of themagnetic domains 41 occurring as a result of the manufacture process.Multiple magnet elements can be arranged together to create magneticmaterial with pre-aligned magnetic domains that enable production of aHalbach-style resulting magnetic flux field when the magnet material issubsequently magnetised by a magnetisation pattern. A ring of suchmagnet elements can be assembled to produce a permanent magnet ring ofthe rotor. This can be magnetised to have a Halbach-style resultingmagnetic flux field. This field is stronger than if isotropic orradially aligned anisotropic magnetic material is magnetised with thesame flux field. A rotor with Halbach-style resulting magnetic fluxfield is the desired field in order to produce improved operatingcharacteristics of the motor.

The magnet elements of the permanent magnet ring might be curvedcommensurate with the curvature of the rotor.

“Halbach style” refers to a resulting magnetic flux field that is thesame as or is similar to a magnetic flux field produced by a traditionalHalbach array magnet arrangement. The term “magnetisation pattern”refers to the external magnetic flux field employed to energise themagnet element according to the domain alignment pattern, causing themagnets to become magnetised. The term “resulting magnetic flux field”refers to the magnetic flux field that exists in the magnet elements(and surrounding structure, where applicable) after production, assemblyand magnetisation.

Further detail, alternatives and options concerning the magnet elements,which may be used in some embodiments of a rotor for the motor herein,are set forth in WO2009/017430.

An embodiment of the invention might comprise a washing machine with amotor as described above, or another embodiment might comprise the motoritself, or the stator itself. Alternatively, the motor or stator couldbe used in another application, such as a power generation apparatus.

A washing machine using the motor described could take one of manyforms. For example, referring to FIG. 9, one embodiment comprises a toploading washing machine with an outer wrapper and a tub suspended withinthe wrapper. A rotating drum with perforated walls is disposed in androtatable within the suspended tub. A motor, comprising a stator androtor as previously desired, is coupled to the rotating drum via arotational shaft. The motor can be operated by a controller to spin andoscillate the rotating drum to carry out washing of clothes. Theinventors have found the described stator of the motor to be lesssusceptible to resonance relative to prior art stators of similar size,weight and output. These may make the motor as a whole less expensive oroperate with less noise.

Referring to FIG. 10, another embodiment comprises a front loadinghorizontal axis washing machine with an outer wrapper and a rotatingdrum housing suspended in the outer wrapper. A rotating drum is disposedin and rotatable within the rotating drum housing. A door providesaccess to the rotating drum for introducing or removing clothing to bewashed. A gasket may be included to provide a seal between the door andthe rotating drum. A rotor is coupled to the rotating drum via arotational shaft and the stator is coupled to the rear of the tub. Themotor can be operated by a controller to spin and oscillate the rotatingdrum to carry out washing of clothes. The inventors have found thedescribed stator of the motor to be less susceptible to resonancerelative to prior art stators of similar size, weight and output. Thesemay make the motor as a whole less expensive or operate with less noise.

Referring to FIG. 11, another embodiment comprises a top loading or tiltaccess horizontal axis washing machine. The washing machine has an outerwrapper and a tub suspended within the outer wrapper. A rotating drumcan rotate within the tub. Clothes can be introduced and taken from therotating drum through an opening in the top of the drum. A motor,comprising a stator and rotor as previously desired, is arranged todrive the rotating drum via a rotational shaft. The motor can beoperated by a controller to spin and oscillate the rotating drum tocarry out washing of clothes. The inventors have found the describedstator of the motor to be less susceptible to resonance relative toprior art stators of similar size, weight and output. These may make themotor as a whole less expensive or operate with less noise.

FIG. 12 shows a tilt loading horizontal axis washing machine. Thewashing machine has an outer wrapper and a tub suspended within theouter wrapper. A rotating drum can rotate within the tub. Clothes can beintroduced and taken from the rotating drum by tilting the drum. Amotor, comprising a stator and rotor as previously desired, is arrangedto drive the rotating drum via a rotational shaft. The motor can beoperated by a controller to spin and oscillate the rotating drum tocarry out washing of clothes. The inventors have found the describedstator of the motor to be less susceptible to resonance relative toprior art stators of similar size, weight and output. These may make themotor as a whole less expensive or operate with less noise.

It will be appreciated that FIGS. 9 to 12 show just four examples ofwashing machines that could utilise a motor with a rotor containingmagnetic elements produced in the manner described above. Otherembodiments of the present invention could comprise other washingmachines, operated by a motor as described above.

1. A motor for use in a washing machine comprising: a stator comprising:a core of magnetically permeable material including an annular ring withan inner circumference between 120 mm diameter and 250 mm diameter and awidth between 5 mm and 15 mm, 24 or 27 radiating extending poles spacedaround the circumference of the annular ring, the poles extendingoutward from the annular ring a distance between 15 mm and 40 mm, threephase windings, each winding comprising a plurality of coils arranged onone third of the pole cores, the windings arranged on the pole coressuch that each pole core is associated with only one winding, which isdifferent from the winding associated with each of the two immediatelyadjacent pole cores and the two immediately adjacent pole cores areassociated with different windings, an insulator insulating the polecores from the windings, a rotor concentric with the stator with apermanent magnet ring outside the stator and rotor poles facing the endsof the stator poles, wherein the ratio of stator poles to rotor poles is4:3.
 2. A motor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the core has a depthbetween 10 mm and 35 mm.
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. A motor asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the diameter of the inner circumference ofthe annular ring is between 150 mm and 230 mm.
 6. (canceled)
 7. A motoras claimed in claim 1 wherein the width of the annular ring is between 5mm and 10 mm.
 8. (canceled)
 9. A motor as claimed in claim 1 wherein thedepth or thickness of the annular ring is between 12 mm and 23 mm. 10.(canceled)
 11. A motor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the core comprisesat least one stack of laminations, each lamination lying in a planesubstantially parallel to the plane of the annular ring.
 12. A motor asclaimed in claim 11 wherein the stack or stacks of laminations comprisea stack formed from a helical coil of steel strip such that each layerin the stack comprises a turn in the helix.
 13. (canceled)
 14. A motoras claimed in claim 11 wherein the stack or stacks of laminationscomprises multiple stacks joined at their ends, each stack including asegment of the annular ring and one or more extending pole cores. 15-17.(canceled)
 18. A motor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the stator has only27 radially extending pole cores.
 19. A motor as claimed in claim 1wherein the stator includes a plurality of fastening locations formounting the stator to a machine, each fastening location being centreda distance radially inside the inner surface of the annular ring of thecore, this distance being greater than the length that the pole coresextend beyond the outer surface of the annular ring.
 20. A motor asclaimed in claim 19 wherein fastening locations for fastening the statorto the machine have centres more than 40 mm from the centre of thestator.
 21. A motor as claimed in claim 20 wherein the fasteninglocations are between 40 mm and 80 mm from the centre of the stator. 22.(canceled)
 23. (canceled)
 24. A motor as claimed in claim 20 wherein thestator includes a diaphragm portion extending inward from the annularring to occupy an area within the perimeter of the ring and thatincludes the fastening locations.
 25. (canceled)
 26. A motor as claimedin claim 24 wherein the diaphragm portion is annular and occupies anarea between the annular ring and a circular aperture spaced inward ofthe mounting locations. 27-42. (canceled)
 43. A motor as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the rotor comprises: a plurality of magnet elements withtwo lateral edges each with magnetic domains aligned anisotropically toform a domain alignment pattern, the plurality of magnets being arrangedto form a permanent magnet ring with an inner face and an outer face, arigid support holding said magnet elements in said ring arrangement,wherein the magnetic domain alignment pattern in each magnet element hasan orientation that varies substantially continuously across at leastpart of the magnet element between its lateral edges from an orientationthat has a predominant radial component at a pole of the magnet elementto an orientation that has a least some tangential component at onelateral edge of the magnet element, wherein the magnet elements aremagnetised to produce a resulting magnetic flux field.
 44. (canceled)45. A motor as claimed in claim 43 wherein at both lateral edges theorientation of the magnetic domain alignment pattern has significanttangential component which result in the magnetic domain alignmentpattern having an orientation of at least 15 degrees with respect to thelateral edges.
 46. A motor as claimed in claim 43 wherein theorientation varies substantially non-linearly over the magnet element.47. A motor as claimed in claim 43 wherein the resulting magnetic fluxfield has poles with alternating polarity spaced around the ring, thepoles being aligned radially with respect to the permanent magnet ring,and wherein the resulting magnetic flux field of the permanent magnetring traverses between adjacent poles of opposite polarities and betweenthose poles is focused to extend beyond the boundary defined by theinner face, but remain at least partially constrained within theboundary defined by the outer face of the permanent magnet ring,
 48. Amotor as claimed in claim 43 wherein the portion of the resultingmagnetic flux field between adjacent poles extending beyond the boundarydefined by the inner face of the permanent magnet ring magnet elementhas an orientation that varies continuously wherein: between the poles,the orientation varies from an orientation that has a predominant radialcomponent at the pole to an orientation that has a predominanttangential component at the mid-point between the poles, and extendingradially from the inner face, the orientation varies from an orientationthat has a predominant radial component at an inner face to anorientation that has an increasingly tangential component with distancefrom the inner face.
 49. A washing machine comprising an electronicallycommutated motor as claimed in claim 1, said stator being coupled to anon-rotating tub or housing of the washing machine, said rotor beingcoupled to a rotating drum of the washing machine. 50-52. (canceled)